How did your love story begin?

We met in San Rafael Ca. He was in the navy and I had just left a difficult situation in L.A. I was 19 he as 20. We trauma bonded over the death of his favorite Grandma, but our real story wouldn’t begin for another 17 years. We reconnected in 2009 after a drunken Facebook search on my end. We started talking on the phone and it was as if no time had passed. He still felt like home. I visited him in Minnesota and he asked me to marry him on the second day and I said yes. Married 5 months later.

What is your favorite memory you've shared as a couple?

Our love story has always been magical. The weekend we got married started off with The Color Purple, then we drove to Las Vegas to get married. We ordered room service and stayed up way too late. We got up the next morning got married with Elvis as our witness, had our first meal as husband and wife at the Stratosphere, then drove back to L.A. for out first ultrasound the next day to check on our baby’s health and find out the gender. We named him Xavier on our way to the car.

What would you do with $20,000?

We got married in Las Vegas and I was already pregnant, he also lived in Minnesota and I lived in California, so we never got a chance to have a honeymoon. We would use a portion of that money to pay down some debt, but we would finally get to take that Hawaiian honeymoon that we’ve been dreaming of for 16 years!